Paper Wishes (2016) is a middle-grade historical novel by Lois Sepahban. The novel follows 10-year-old Japanese-American Manami as she and her family are incarcerated at the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II. Manami has to leave behind her beloved dog, and is so traumatized that she loses her ability to speak. Over time, Manami and her family learn how to find hope and resilience even in their difficult circumstances.  Sepahban grew up near Manzanar, and... Read Paper Wishes Summary

Parable of the Talents is a 1998 novel by Octavia Butler; it is the sequel to her 1995 novel Parable of the Sower. The novel is a dystopian, science fiction narrative set in a futuristic America ravaged by the climate crisis, violence, and racial and religious persecution. Unlike many science fiction authors, Butler focuses her novel mainly on the experiences of racially diverse characters, including many Black and Latinx characters. Parable of the Talents was... Read Parable of the Talents Summary

Paradise of the Blind (1988) is a fictional novel written by Duong Thu Huong, a dissident Vietnamese writer and former Communist Party member who openly criticizes the disillusionment of communism through her writings. As a former Communist Youth Brigade leader, Duong was in a unique position to observe the political and social chaos of communist Vietnam. Paradise of the Blind is set against the backdrop of Land Reform, the official state-run attempt at land redistribution... Read Paradise of the Blind Summary

William Meredith’s “Parents,” from his 1980 collection The Cheer, is a free verse poem about the experience of having parents and becoming a parent. “Parents” does not follow a set metrical pattern and does not utilize a rhyme scheme, and it does not utilize many examples of figurative language; instead, the poem’s power comes from the depth of its conviction and its use of everyday language to express a common experience in an ironic and... Read Parents Summary

Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis follows 13-year-old Parvana as she makes her way across war-torn Afghanistan in search of her mother and siblings. Published in 2002, this novel is a sequel to the international bestseller The Breadwinner, which was adapted as a 2017 animated film, and is the second in a series of four called The Breadwinner series. Although Parvana’s Journey is a work of fiction, Ellis bases the setting of the novel on the... Read Parvana's Journey Summary

Published in 2017, Pashmina is a young adult graphic novel by Nidhi Chanani, a freelance cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. When the teenage protagonist, Priyanka, finds a magical pashmina (shawl) in her mother’s suitcase in their home in California, she is transported to a colorful, idealistic version of India that does not resemble the India from her immigrant mother’s stories. This adventure sparks Priyanka’s curiosity about her family history, cultural heritage, and personal identity. When she... Read Pashmina Summary

Patina is a 2017 novel written by American author Jason Reynolds and published by Simon & Schuster. Patina is the second book in Reynolds’s Track series. This book for young adults explores Patina “Patty” Jones’s struggles to navigate her passion for running, the things she is running for and from, family issues, and a new school. This study guide refers to the Atheneum Books for Young Readers edition.Plot SummaryPatina is about a young runner, Patina... Read Patina Summary

With the 2019 publication of his third novel Patron Saints of Nothing, Randy Ribay cemented his reputation as one of the new millennium’s most important and popular writers of young adult fiction. Ribay, a high school English teacher in San Francisco, was born in the Philippines but grew up in Michigan. His novels, coming-of-age stories praised for their hard-edged, street-hip lyricism, examine the implications of cultural identity and the problematic process of assimilation. In addition... Read Patron Saints of Nothing Summary

Pax, Journey Home is the 2021 sequel to Sara Pennypacker’s New York Times best-selling novel Pax (2016) and features illustrations by Jon Klassen. Set a year after Pax ends, the book finds protagonist Peter, now 13, wrestling with grief over his father’s death in the war and the abandonment of his pet fox, Pax. Pax, meanwhile, has mated with another fox, Bristle, and started a family. Pax takes to the role of father instantly, but... Read Pax, Journey Home Summary

Gary D. Schmidt’s 2019 middle-grade novel, Pay Attention, Carter Jones, is a coming-of-age story that blends humor with emotional depth. The narrative follows Carter Jones, a sixth grader whose chaotic home life is thrown into further disarray by the unexpected arrival of an English butler. As Carter’s father is deployed with the military, the butler, Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, arrives as part of an inheritance and begins to instill a new sense of order and decorum. He... Read Pay Attention, Carter Jones Summary

Peace Like a River is author Leif Enger’s debut novel. A work of literary fiction marketed for adult audiences but accessible to younger readers, Peace Like a River shares elements from Christian fiction, historical fiction, and coming-of-age literature. The book was named one of the Year’s Best Books by Time Magazine and the LA Times. It won the Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction in 2002, as well as an Independent... Read Peace Like a River Summary

Penitence (2025) is American author Kristin Koval’s first novel. Koval is a former attorney who left a law career to pursue writing full-time. Penitence interrogates the complexities of the juvenile justice system, public discourse surrounding gun control, and the role that media plays in shaping public opinion of high-profile crimes. It explores how guilt, grief, blame, and forgiveness affect the micro-world of the family. It follows attorneys Martine and Julian as they tackle a case... Read Penitence Summary

Penpal is a 2012 suspense novel by American author Dathan Auerbach that evolved from a series of “creepypasta” posts on Reddit. Auerbach led a successful crowdfunding campaign to self-publish the posts as his debut novel. He cites childhood memories and nightmares as the impetus for the story that became Penpal’s second chapter, “Footsteps.” Its popularity led him to develop the other chapters over several consecutive weeks. After the novel’s publication, Ryan Daley of the horror... Read Penpal Summary

People of the Whale, authored by Chickasaw poet and storyteller Linda Hogan, addresses the interplay among Indigenous cultural identity, nature, and the impact of war. Published in 2008, this work falls within the contemporary Native American literature genre. Hogan, known for her background in Native American culture and environmental concerns, uses these elements to shape the narrative. The novel centers around Thomas Just, a Native American from the Pacific Northwest, who returns to his village... Read People of the Whale Summary

People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young (2025) is a romance novel about two young people who find love and relief from past trauma in a small Canadian town. The book received positive reactions from both readers and critical reviewers through Publishers’ Weekly and Library Journal. Bonam-Young is a USA Today best-selling author and TikTok sensation who writes romance novels featuring characters who are diverse, have disabilities, are marginalized, or are part of the LGBTQ+ community to... Read People Watching Summary

Author and professor Daniel Black’s novel Perfect Peace tells the story of a rural, African American family that is forced to grapple with their own concepts of gender and gender identity after a mother admits that she has raised her youngest son to be the daughter that she always wanted. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of the 1940s American South, the novel addresses a range of themes that examine the fluidity of gender and the... Read Perfect Peace Summary

“Perhaps the World Ends Here” is by Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and the 2019 US Poet Laureate—the first Native American poet to hold the office. Published in Harjo’s 1994 collection, The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, the poem explores themes of unity, the concept of gathering, and the apocalypse. Written as an extended metaphor in which Harjo’s speaker compares the ubiquitous kitchen table to the world and the cycles... Read Perhaps the World Ends Here Summary

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic memoir and coming-of-age tale about Satrapi’s experiences growing up in Tehran, Iran, before and after the revolution in 1979. Originally published in France to critical acclaim in four volumes between 2000-2003, it was translated into English in two volumes in 2003 and 2004 and explores themes of Coming of Age During Revolution, Civil Unrest, and War, Family Resistance and Heroism, Joy in Wartimen... Read Persepolis Summary

Peyton Place is a novel depicting sensational and melodramatic events in a small New England town in the 1930s and 1940s; it was written by American novelist Grace Metalious and published in 1956. Peyton Place provoked controversy due to its depiction of taboo topics including sexuality, sexual abuse, and abortion. Nonetheless, the novel sold extremely well, and it was also adapted into successful films and television series. Metalious explores themes such as Shame and Ambivalence... Read Peyton Place Summary

Phantasma is a 2024 romantasy novel by USA Today bestselling author Kaylie Smith, which follows the romantic relationship between necromancer Ophelia Grimm and a phantom named Blackwell during a high-stakes competition for a Devil’s Grant, a rare favor that allows the winner to wish for anything they want. It is the first novel in Smith’s new adult romantasy Wicked Games series, soon to be followed by the forthcoming novel Enchantra. Smith is also the author... Read Phantasma Summary